The primary objective of this project is to develop and evaluate a group administered screening test for phonological awareness in kindergarten aged children, as well as a self contained, small- group, training module in phonological awareness skills. Both of these products have direct application in reducing the incidence of reading failure in the elementary grades. The specific aims of Phase I are to: 1) determine the optimal structure for a quick, simple to administer, group screening test for phonological awareness; 2) validate the group screening instrument against standard individually administered phonological awareness tests; and, 3) prepare prototypic training materials for small group instruction in phonological awareness and provide experimental evidence of their effectiveness. This proposal is based on a solid research consensus concerning the importance of phonological awareness in attainment of early reading skills. Since there are presently no group measures of phonological awareness available, nor are there any formal training materials widely available, both of the products from this grant should have extremely broad commercial possibilities.